Philippines’ Westinghouse Deal Blasted : Energy: The Aquino government’s settlement of a bribery suit against the firm shortchanged the country, critics say.

The Philippine government’s decision to settle out of court a bribery suit against Westinghouse over a nuclear power plant came under fresh attack over the weekend, with one newspaper calling it a “dirty deal.”

Legislators attacked President Corazon Aquino’s decision to operate the mothballed plant, and anti-nuclear activists called it a “shameless midnight deal.”

At one time, Aquino’s government had called the plant--near an earthquake fault line--unsafe. But she defended the conditional agreement last week with Westinghouse Electric Corp., builder of the $2.1-billion plant in Bataan province.

As part of a complex settlement a day before the case was to go to trial, Westinghouse will pay the government $10 million in cash and $90 million in credits and discounts.

The pact also provides that Manila will borrow $400 million to pay Westinghouse to upgrade the plant to meet current safety standards.

Westinghouse will get the contract to run the plant for 30 years and part of the revenues. The U.S. firm will have 15 years to compensate the Philippines for its $400 million in debt.

Aquino said the government was able to secure a better deal from the contractor than it could have obtained had it proceeded with the litigation.

The plant, due to start operating in 1996, will boost the electric power supply that the country badly needs for economic development, officials said.

“I cannot see the rationale and the justification,” said Sen. Jovito Salonga, one of eight candidates running in the May 11 presidential elections. “We were really shortchanged.”